Month: September 2016

Switching from Nixle to CodeRED

“WOODSTOCK POLICE TO TRANSITION TO NEW NOTIFICATION SYSTEM CODERED”

Effective October 1, 2016, the City of Woodstock will launch the use of CodeRED community notification system for relaying time-sensitive information such as weather alerts, missing persons, evacuation notices, etc.

Registration for this notification service is customized, allowing residents to choose which alerts they would like to receive and how they would prefer to receive them. Residents can choose several different methods: landline, cell phone, email, text message, TTY, or a combination. These alerts can be specific to streets, neighborhoods, or regions so that residents in affected areas are sure to receive the information.

The CodeRED app may also be downloaded to any smart phone. There are over 3,000 agencies across the United States utilizing CodeRED. If you have the CodeRED app on your phone while traveling and you are in an area where a CodeRED alert is distributed, you will receive the notification on your phone.

Currently, the City of Woodstock utilizes Nixle notification system. Any person subscribed to receive Nixle alerts from the City of Woodstock will need to subscribe to CodeRED to continue receiving alerts from the City of Woodstock after October 1, 2016.

Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office, Office of Emergency Management, and City of Canton also utilize the CodeRED notification system.

Serenade Garage Sale Fri Sept 30th and Sat Oct 1st8AM- 2PM! Time to clean out and bring your stuff out to sell! We will post signs up in front of neighborhood, but if you are planning to be in your own driveway you are responsible for any signs to your house past entrance.

All applications are posted on the site as public record, as well as site plans and architectural elevations. Additionally, statements which the developer has issued, in asking for their variances are also shown.

The small piece of land in the parking lot at DTW: Case: V#140-16
The Yarn and Sew Buildings: Case: Z#085-16

The DTW lot is planned to have a 4 story building with parking underneath. Part of their variance request is due to the fact that they need a height variance, because the building is 12-20′ taller than it is allowed to be (12′ is about one story…20′ is two stories).

The next planning commission meeting will be held on October 6, 2016 at 7:00 PM at Chambers at City Center (8534 Main Street, Woodstock, GA 30188). It is important that if you have any issues or disagreements with anything going on (anywhere) in the city that you attend the meeting(s) held monthly. That is the way that voices can be heard.

With nice weather still in the forecast for this week and weekend, the Board has opted to extend the pool closing until after next weekend… October 3 the pool will be closed for the season. It has been great having the pool open and beautiful all of these extra weeks this season!

During the May meeting at the Cabana, the HOA Board showed a large picture of the “State of Serenade” up to that point. This was not a meeting that the HOA Board was required to do. It was done for the pure sake of communication – sharing what we have learned.

In hiring Douglas Property Management, Mike Douglas informed us that as part of the transition, he would use the first several months to determine a true financial analysis of our community. This is something which Heritage had offered to us that we could do (for an additional large fee) since it had not been done in the previous 10 years of the neighborhood’s life.

Because of the transition, May was a lull-month for Douglas – as they were only beginning to get paperwork from Heritage. June was about getting our files transferred – which, had some issues due to lost checks on the Heritage side of things (which Heritage fully admitted). July, August, and September have been able to go into the “true state of affairs” for Serenade.

The HOA Board is anxiously awaiting the results of the financial study that Mike Douglas is putting together. With this, it should help to steer us, in terms of projects that are most/least important and also most/least feasible in order to create a multi-year plan for improvements and spending.

As soon as a clear picture is found, once again, your HOA Board will voluntarily meet to discuss what we have learned and what we are proposing. This is moving slower than we would have liked it to, but please know, your Board will continue to share information with the community.

The sidewalk trees…
The Board of Directors has been working to get this issue settled. We are in a government cycle at the moment. The City is in the loop – and Douglas Property Management is doing what they can to have the City of Woodstock take responsibility. Although the letter that was mailed on Sept 1 states that we are in the “early stages”, it should be noted, this is an issue that has not left the table – or the minds – of the HOA Board since May. Early stages are gone. We are looking for a solution.

Standing Water near 309 Windsong…
Again, this is another issue which is pending with the City Works Department. They have come out to the street multiple times to view the water (insert funny cartoon here). They are seeking to find the root of the problem before fixing it.

We have given Douglas Property Management a deadline of our expectations on both issues. The HOA Board is doing many things, quietly, behind the scenes, trying to get solutions to the issues in the neighborhood. We are fighting for you.